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REPUBLICAN ADDRESS 

•lo the tree Men of Connecticut. 
Fellow Citizens, 



I 



HE General Committee of the Republicans 
of Connecticut folicit your candid attention to the political 
diffenfions which at prefent agitate this ftate, a fubject highly 
xnterefting to every man who loves peace and liberty. 

On this fubjefr you have been addrefled by a number of feder- 
alifts, convened at Hartford on the 31st of May laft. 

We would deem it a mifapplication of time and a departure 
from the true dignity offerious difcuflion, to notice what is ex- 
ceptionable in that ..ddrefs, for our objecl is not to prove that 
theaddrefs is deficient in candour and ^ruth, but to prove that 
the mafs of citizens, of all parties, have an ineftimable common 
intneft, in the protection of which it behoves them to unite ; 
and to prove alfo, that federalifrn is a dereliction of that com- 
mon intereft, a bafe betraying of it into the hands of its enemies. 
We fpeak here of the federalifm of leaders ; for we know full 
well that the federalifm of thofe who lead is one thing, and 
that of thofe who follow is another, and a very different thing. 

The federalifls, in their addrefs, obferve, that the origin of 
the diffenfions which diiturb the tranquility of this ftate, is"fo 
well known that it cannot be neceffary at this time to examine 
or explain it." We think otherwife. We believe that the 
great body of citizens, of both political parties, have the fame 
intereft s, the fame principles, and the fame general views, with 
regard to the means of promoting their profperity, and of pro- 
tecting their liberty. We believe therefore, that fo far as dif- 
fenfions do prevail, they muft be the offspring of misinformation, 
of miftake ; and that, to put an end to thof<? difTenfions among 
that mafs of citizens who have no private views, no particular 
interefts hoftile to the common weal, nothing more is neceffary 
than a true, a full underftanding of theorigin of thofe difTfnfions. 

Are the real interefts ofthatclafs of our fellow citizms who 
are ftiled federal hoftile to or different from the interefts of 
republicans 2 Has nature, or has accident adapted one kind of 
happinefs to one political feet, and a different kind of happinefs 
to a different feci ? An opinion like this is as abfurd as danger- 
ous ; for however the arts of plaufible ambition, of ikillful 
wickednefs, by exciting and mifguiding the zeal of uninformed 
and unfufpecting integrity, may have been able to array citizen 
againft citizen, neighbor againft neighbor, and to plant dif- 
truft and hatred where confidence and friendfhip ought to 
grow, ftill it will remain an unchangeable truth, that republicans 
and federalifls muft be freemen or fiaves, happy or wretched, 
together. 

Far then from us be rancour and every pafEon, while we 
jTitke to our fellow citizens a candid expofiuon of our view of 
the origin ol the diffenfions that now exift in this ftate, of thofe 
efier.tiai principles of government, in which the theories of lead- 
ing federalifls differ from thofe of the republicans, and of the 
oppofing fyftems of public mtafures advocated and purfued by 
the parties relpe&ively. If ia thv courfe wf ibis expofiuoo we 



c 2 ] 

lhall find ourfelves under the neceflity ofanimadverting with fe 
verity on the conduct and views of men oppofed to us, let it not 
be faid that we have violated the rule we have prefcribed to our- 
felves, that we permit paffion to make us unjuft ! No, we will 
endeavor to be ftriclly juft, and as we will fet down nought in 
malice, fo we will extenuate nothing. We will fpeak to our 
fellow citizens with that plainnefs which belongs to truth. In 
an honed: and ardent purfuit of thofe ineftimable objecls, public 
peace and liberty, we will not paufe to calculate the importance 
to ourfelves individually of the love or the hatred of the enemies 
of public peace and liberty. 

Hiftory teaches us this interefting fact, that from the remo= 
teft ages a few men in every nation have had the addrefs to make 
the multitude their property, that the only intelligible diftinc- 
tions that have been known among men have been thofe of maf. 
ter and flave ; that the dark annals of defpotifm have been inter- 
rupted and enlightened by fome gleams of liberty, by fome no- 
ble ftruggles of oppreffed man to break his chains, and to affume 
that dignified ftation from which he had long been degraded ; 
that the fuccefs of thefe ftruggles has ever been of fhort duration ; 
that though man has been found invincible when ftruggling for 
his liberty, yet that he has never been found competent to its 
protection ; but that ambition and cunning have always fucceed- 
ed, fooner or later, in perfuading the fimple, unfufpecting fona 
of freedom to affift in riveting their chains anew; that thofe 
fhort periods of liberty have indeed exhibited illuftrious fam- 
ples of genius, of energy and of virtue, to which degraded and 
enflaved man can never attain ; but that in the long, dark night 
of defpotifm, thefe, like the bright corufcations of a meteor, 
have only ferved to give a more forcible perception of the deep 
gloom that was fpread over the world. 

From thefe fa&s, which are controverted by none, men have 
deduced various theories, conformed to their various wifhes. — 
The lovers of liberty, the true friends of man have, in every 
cafe, feen freedom fubverted by circumftances peculiar to each 
refpective experiment. They have feen nothing to difcourage 
new experiments. They perceive in the progrefs that fociety 
has made and is frill making in knowledge, in every intellectual 
improvement, a fure a certain prefageofthe future univerfal 
triumph of truth and of liberty. On the contrary, the enemies 
of liberty, men of uncontrolable ambition and cupidity, fay, that 
the experience of pair, ages demonftrates that the mafs of nun- 
kind ifl every nation are, and, from the very nature of man, muft 
forever remain incompetent to protect and perpetuate their liber' 
ties when acquired ; that their ignorance and their vices in- 
capacitate them for felf government — that the ignorant multi- 
tude are deftined forever to be governed by the difcerning few f 
whatever may be the form of that government — and that there- 
fore all that is to be fought, or hoped, from the inftitution of 
fociety is, that they may be fo contrived as to mitigate, and 
render as mild as polfible, that vafulage to which, they fay* 
God ha?, by an irreverfable decree, deftined the human race 
Falfe ! Foolilh ! Impious theory ! They feek to deprive theit 
fellow-men of their deareft rights, of aii that gives value to life, 
bOUROS UNKNOWN 



£ 3 3 

of all that gives to man a valuable pre-eminence above the brutes, ZZ - 
and juftify themfelves by the raoft cruel, the moft degrading of < 
calumnies ; by afTerting in fhort, that the Divinity has given to *>l »^ 
man no valuable pre-eminence above the brutes. ' ^ ^ 

Happy would it have been for us if this monftrous theory fO&D 
had been confined to that country which gave it birth. In 
Europe, as the multitude have been compelled to perform the 
part of beafts of burden, there itfeems almoft innocent to fpeak 
of them as fuch. Here in America, one would have thought that 
difcretion, if not a fenfe of juftice, might have protected us 
from the infult. But inordinate ambition is the growth of all 
countries, and in all countries it juftifies its depredations by 
Similar pretexts. 

No fooner was that war finiihed which fevered thefe Ameri- 
can States from the Britifh empire, than ambition marked them. 
for her own, and commenced her fecret machinations. We 
will pafs in filence the few years that preceded the birth of our 
prefent federal conftitution, becaufe during that period the ope- 
rations of faction were unorganized and defultory ; but no 
fooner was a convention of the States propofed in order to revife 
the federal compact than they became both fyftematic and active. 
You need not be told fellow-citizens, that at this period, and 
for the avowed purpofe of influencing the deliberations of the 
propofed convention, Mr. Adams, our late President, wrote 
three volumes on the fubject of government, the whole fcope 
and object of which writings was to prove that a government 
constituted precifely on the principles of that of Great Britain, 
and no other, is perfectly adapted to the happinefs and protec- 
tion of men in all countries, and in all ftages of fociety — and 
that as far as thofe who were to form a government for us fhould 
deviate from the true principles of the Britifh government, fo 
far would they deviate from wifdom and from nature. 

The convention when affembled was found to confift of dif- 
cordant materials, fome ardent friends of the elective princi- 
ple throughout the legiflative and executive departments of the 
government, fome open, fome covert friends of the hereditary 
principle in the executive, and in one branch of the legifktive 
departments. Here it was that Alexander Hamilton ftrenu- 
oufly advocated an annihilation of the ftate governments, an 
executive and fenate elected for life. How eafy ! how very 
natural would be the tranfition from Hamilton's governor and 
fenate, or to ufe European names, King and Nobles for life, to 
Adams' hereditary king and nobles ! The conftitution, when 
formed, was declared by the convention tiiat formed it, to be 
" the refult of a fpirit of mutual conceffion." Probably no fingle 
member of the convention believed it to be free from defects. 
In one point all parties agreed, to wit, that a ftronger bond of 
union than had hitherto bound the ftates together was abfolutely 
neceffary to their peace, to their fafety, perhaps to their very 
exiftence. The republicans were in general well pleafed with 
the conftitution. They confided in the good fenfe of the pea- 
pie, and they believed that if what appeared to them imperfec- 
tions fhould on experiment be found to be really fuch, they 
would in the manner provided by the ioftrumeot kfelf be cor- 



[ * ] 

reded. Some indeed, not lefs honed, not lefs zealous for 2: 
firm union of the dates, but more jealous than their brethren,, 
thought they faw in the inftrument unneceflary facilities to cor- 
ruption and ufurpation, and on that account ultimately oppofed' 
its adoption. This procured for them, and for the republics 
party, with which they in the fcbfequent ftruggles co-operated, 
and to which they in truth belonged, the name of antifederalifts. 
It muff, be manifeft to every reflecting mind, that men, who, 
Mice Mr. Adams, believed the Britilh to be the frandard of good 
governments, mult have regarded our federal conftitution as it 
came from the hands of the convention with difapprobacion and 
contempt. Annihilation of. the (late governments, and a com- 
bination of the ftates unde«r one government muft have 
been a neceflary part of the plan of the monarchies, and ac- 
cordingly, as has already been obferved, the meafure was brought 
forward in the convention by Mr. Hamilton. Notwithstanding 
this attempt was defeated, and although the conftitution was 
deftimte of almoft every thing which the monarchies confider- 
ed as valuable in fubftance, yet they unanimoufiy fubfcribed it ; 
becaufe it was all that at that time could be obtained, becaufe 
though deficient in fubftance, in form it was correct ; and be- 
caufe they hoped that, as it had the form, they fhould be able 
by a fkillful management of its powers, by an artful direction 
and management of private interefts already within its reach, 
and of fuch as from time to time it would be poflible under 
various pretexts to create, they fhould be able to give it the fub- 
ftance of their great model, the Britifh government. 

The moment that the new government was organized, the 
monarchifts, arrogating to themfelves the name of federalifts, 
commenced a lyftematic attack on every republican principle in 
the conftitution, endeavoring to fap one after another, every 
bulwark erected for the protection of the independence of the 
ftate governments, and of the fupremacy of the whole people. 
This attack called forth a correspondent vigilance and vigor on 
the part of the republicans in the defence of every thing which 
in a government they confidered of value. Thus a warfare of 
principles commenced which has not yet fubfided. 

Here then, fellow-citizens, you have a faithful exhibition of 
our view of the origin of the difTenlions which difturb the tran- 
quility not only of this ftate, but of the United States, and 
of thofe efTential principles of government in which the theories 
of leading federalifts differ from thofe of republicans. We 
will fay fomething of the oppofing fyftems of public meafures 
advocated and purfued by the parties refpectively. Permit us* 
however, to paufe here and make a remark which is fuggeftcd 
by what has already been foid. Man is always backward to 
acknowledge himfelfin an error, he is too apt to confider it a 
difhonor to him to have been deceived, this induces him to 
perfevere in his error until he meets with evidence altogether 
irrefiftible. Many an honeft fincere republican has conffantly 
given his voice for federalifts, believing them to be as honeft!/ 
and as fincerely republican as himfelf. Such men will not eafily 
be perfuaded that they have been betrayed by thofe in whom 
they have confided ; that they have given their fupport to a 
fyftem which is their abhorrence- 



c . 5 ] 

It will be difficult to convince fuch republicans, that their 
friends, the leading federalifts with whom theyareacquainted, can 
be advocates for the fyftems of Mr. Adams or Mr. Hamilton. 
We folicit thofe men who (hall entertain doubts like thefe, to 
reflect that Mr. Adams' books were publifhed for the expreis 
purpofe that has already been ftated, and were read by the lead- 
ing men of both parties ; his principles were, therefore, early 
and univerfally underftood — that Hamilton's proportion for 
the deftruction of the ftate governments, and for the election of 
a chief magiftrate and fenators/br life, was made in the face of 
the convention afTembled from every part of the union. To 
fuppofe then that the opinions of thefe men are unknown to 
leading federalifts would be mere idiocy. Both Mr. Adams 
and Hamilton are known by leading federalifts to be monar- 
ches in principle, and of courfe to be enemies to our federal 
conftitution. Mr. Adams has, on account of his principles 
been raifed to the chief magiftnicy, and Mr. Hamilton is, to 
this day, the favorite chief of his party. Would republicans, 
would thofe who deteft kingly, or any other hereditary govern- 
ments, exalt to the chief magiftracy of a government like ours, 
an avowed royalift i Such conduct would be the wildeft phren- 
zy. No, the men, who in fa& procured the e/eclion of Mr. 
Adams tuere royalifls. The men who are now the political friends- 
of Mr. Hamilton are royaiijls. 

Though the royalifts, or federalifts, as they called themfelves, 
commenced their operations with the commencement of the 
government, yet duiing the adminiftration of Wafhington their 
march though fteady was cautious. That inflexible patriot, 
always efteemed by the republicans, was always hated by the 
federalifts, becaufe he was known to be in favor of the popular 
elective fyftem. They knew his integrity to be uncorruptible, 
to him, therefore, it is not probable that their projects were 
explained, and his perfonal friendfhip for, and confidence in 
fome of the party whom either accident or defign had placed 
near him, enabled them, in fome inftances to circumvent him, 
to betray him into meafures plaufible indeed, but which in their 
tendencies were indifputably oppofite to the whole tenor of his 
declarations, and to the principles he avowed. Such inftances 
however were rare, for we do not accufe him of a mental ap- 
probation of anti- republican legidative meafures, merely be- 
caufe he did not conlider it expedient to oppofe to them his 
conftitutional veto. 

The day when this Great Man retired from the government 
was for federalifm a day of triumph. Having by their addrefs, 
for we will make ufe of a mild epithet, procured for themfelves 
a chief on whofe co-operation they might rely, they feemed de- 
termined to redeem the time they had loft under his predeccftbr. 
Having obtained a diftinct majority in the legiflature, having 
early leized on the judiciary, they were become complete mai- 
ters of the field. All the powers of the government were in 
their hands, and they were all exerted to proftrate every obfta- 
cle to the eftablilhment of their favorite fyftem. Caution was 
at an end, henceforward their attacks on the conftitution, our 
citadel of liberty, vtve open, jnceflant, alarming. To trace 



c 6 3 

them in all their movements of hoftility, would be to write a 
hiftory of the meafures of the government. Few indeed were 
the meafures that did not either direftly or indireftly tend to ad- 
vance this great plan of federalifm ; but whatever might be the 
mode in whieh they were to operate, one diftingui filing princi- 
ple pervades the whole, they are all, excepting their meafures 
of terror, calculated to create and to extend an individual, a 
particular intereft, feparate and diftincl: from the general inter- 
eft of the community, and to engraft that particular intereft on 
their fyftem in fuch a manner as that it mould be underftood 
that they were to ftand or fall together. 

The limits of an addrefs will admit of little more than tc* 
name the mod prominent of the meafures that were directed 
againft the popular, the republican fyftem, in fhort, againft liber- 
ty. In the front rank appears the funding fyftem, a meafure 
manifeftly unjuft, in as much as the real creditor of the public 
was thereby compelled to contribute to pay the whole amount 
of the very debt, which in reafon and juftice was ftill due tr> 
himfelf, to the gambling fpeculator, who, taking advantage of 
his neceflities, had purchafed the paper on which was recorded 
the evidence of that debt, at one eighth part of the amount of 
the debt. The iojuftice of the aft will be forgotten. The 
foldier to whom we were indebted for our liberty, he who had 
purchafed ic for us at the price of his health, and of his bloodj, 
he, it is true, has been deprived of the pittance that had been 
promifed him, and the price of his blood has been paid to 
his proud opprefTor ; but the foldier is poor, and himfelf and 
his injuries are forgotten ; but the effefts of the meafure on the 
politics of our country will long be remembered. 

The debts of the United States, at the time they were fund- 
ed, were nearly as follows : — The whole debt due originally to 
foreigners, about twelve millions of dollars. The domeftic 
debt due originally to our own citizens of various defcriptions, 
forty millions of dollars, but worth at the market price not 
more than five; but let it be eftimated at thirteen millions of 
dollars. The debts of the feveral ftates for which the creditors 
had no pretence of claim againft the United States, and which, 
therefore, fhould not be included in the eftimate of the debts, 
really due from the United States, but. which were affumed by 
the United States on (hallow and frivolous pretences, amount- 
ed to the very ferious fum of eighteen millions of dollars. If 
we eftimate the balances due to thofe ftates which had perform- 
ed more than their proportion in our revolutionary labors, at 
five millions of dollars which cannot be far from the truth, it 
will be found that the whole debt of the United States at the 
time the law for funding it was enafted, in truth and in juftice, 
amounted to no more than thirty millions of dollars, at leaft no 
more than that fum was due to thofe who by that law were 
recognized as creditors. But the debt when funded amounted 
to eighty millions of dollars. By this fingle operation then a 
capital to the enormous amount of fifty millions of dollars was 
created out of nothing, and what was worfe, if worfe could 
be than the injuftice of the meafure, the proprietors of thi3 
vaft wealth understood that they owed it to federalifm, (for the 



[ 7 ] 
meafure had been ftrenuoufly oppofed by the republicans) and 
they were taught to believe that the exiftence of their wealth 
depended on the fuccefs of that fyftem which had created it. 

Thus the fedeial leaders in one day, and by a fingle ma- 
neuvre, inlifted under their banners, not indeed an army of 
poor foldiers, dreffed in uniform, with mufkets in their hands, 
prepared blindly to perform the work of defolation and mur- 
der ; but an army much more to be dreaded of rieh and confe- 
quently of influential men, difperfed over the union, who owed 
all their wealth and all their influence to their chiefs, and flood 
pledged blindly to fupport them in all their attacks on the prin- 
ciples of liberty. 

While thefe things were atchieving by the Iegiflature on one 
quarter, on another the judiciary were making a bold and de- 
cifive afiault. A fuit had been commenced againfl one of the 
flates, and the fupreme court of the United States folemnly 
decided that an independent ftate was fubject to be impleaded 
before them, and amenable to their orders, and liable of 
courfe to be punifhed for contempt, or to have execution 
awarded againft them. This was a fituation for fovereignty 
which was univerfally felt to be rather ludicrous. It was doubt- 
lefs a noble ftride towards the accompliiliment of Mr. Hamil- 
ton's project of anihilating the ftate governments. Unfortunate- 
ly for fedtralifm the ftate fovereignues did not choofe to be put 
on a footing with a corporation for the fupport of a toll bridge ; 
they were not yet fufficiently federal for that ; they therefore 
united in a conltitutional provifion to check this inroad of the 
judiciary. 

The ftruggles of the French nation to recover its long loft 
rights, excited the fympathy of the friends of liberty in this 
country ; on the contrary, they were objects of regret and ter- 
ror to the federalifts. The French revolution became over- 
clouded ; it was difgraced by violence and cruelty ; it was 
ftained with innocent blood. The republicans in America, who 
cherifhed the pure and juft principles of liberty only, have been 
to this day accufed of abetting all the horrible deeds of the men 
who in France difgraced the name of liberty, a moft foul calum- 
ny, and known to be fuch by thofe who uttered it. Nay, liber- 
ty itfelf was ftigmatized. The horrors of the French revolu- 
tion were laid to be the certain fruits of democracy, that is, of 
a government entirely under the control of the people. 

To enable federalifts to accomplifh in our government the re- 
volution which they meditated) it was neceflary ro increafe as 
faft as poflible the number of influential men who mould be in- 
terefted in the fupport of their mealures. To degrade and to 
bring into contempt republican principles, and as, after all, they 
could not hope that an actual change in our government to the 
monarchical, hereditary form, would be permitted without op- 
pofition, an army was indifpenfible to overwhelm refiftance. — 
This is the key that unlocks, and places fairly before our eyes, 
all their fecret councils ; by this we are enabled to difcern the 
confiftency of all their meafures. It was to accomplifh this re- 
volution that the funding fyftem was projected and carried into 
effect ; that the fovereignty of the ftates was attacked ; that the 



[ 8 .3 

public money has been wafted with a ptofufion bordering on 
madnefs ; that we have engaged in the intrigues of foreign 
countries, in them to find a pretext for war, for armies, for 
fleets, for an increafe of expence, for new taxes, for loans of 
money at an unheard of rate of intered. 

Thefe were the meafures of federalifm, and by them its in- 
. terefts were advanced precifely in proportion to the increafe of 
the public burthens. We have feen hods of public creditors, 
of tax-gatherers, of officers, civil and military, all fold to the 
caufe of federalifm, pledged to the overthrow of republicanifm. 
We have feen the plained, the mod edimable of the rights of 
man held up to public fcorn in publications favored and fup- 
ported by the officers of the government and their adherents. 
Foreigners have been encouraged to erect prefles in the midd of 
a republican people, for the purpofe of ridiculing and execrat- 
ing every principle of republicanifm, and the American preffes 
were mod of them corrupted and perverted to the fame abomin- 
able purpofe. If a printer was found honed enough to refill 
feduftion and bribes, and bold enough to warn the people of 
their danger, cruel, arbitrary and unconstitutional laws were 
enacted, under colour of which he was feized, dripped of his 
property, and condemned to lasguim in prifon. 

Againd.the men who remained faithful to the caufe of liberty, 
and whofe talents made them objects of dread to the feder- 
alifts, a mode of warfare cruel and bafe beyond example was 
adopted. In order to dedroy their influence with their fellow 
citizens and to deprive them of the power of making a fuccefsful 
oppofition to federalifm, calumnies without number, and of 
raatchlefs atrofity, were invented and circulated with a dili- 
gence that demondrated it to be the effect of concert. To 
them all without exception was imputed every wickednefs that 
has been known to blacken the heart of man ; they were fpoken 
of not as men, but as demons : a great effort was made to over- 
whelm them with infamy, to fet a mark in their forehead* and 
to drive them frcm the face and fociety of men. In fome parts 
of the union, and particularly in this date, the attempt was 
attended with too much fuccefs. Here the republican, though 
his life were without blemifh, found himfelf at once dripped of 
reputation and the edeem of men, and he was compelled with 
pain to remark a majority of that very people whofe advo- 
cate and defender he was, uniting with his and their enemies in 
their attempts to degrade and dedroy him. This was indeed 
and in truth the feign of terror. 

Federaliim was every where triumphant ; its infolence waj 
accordingly unbounded. The avaricious and the ambitioifs, 
the men of fplendid fortunes, and of fplendid talents, thofe in 
fhort who, under the new order of things, were to be nobles 
and maders, were, with few exceptions, cfpecially in the north- 
ern dates, united in one firm, powerful phalanx, under its ban- 
ners. The people were found inct'.able of, or indifpofed to 
refidance. They either cowered down through fear, or they 
joined the enemies of their liberties, applauded the meafures 
calculated to enthral them. - The firm and intrepid republicans 
weretxe'uied from all partj'cipatipt in the general or date go- 



C 9 ] 
•vernments — they were every where traduced, profcribed, per- 
fected. In fhort, the fair fabric of our freedom, whofe walls 
were cemented by the belt blood of our nation — chat afylum,. 
that laft hope of the oppreffed race of man, feemed ready to 
fall in ruins. 

To obtain thefe, the federalilts, with much art, fomented a 
<juarrel with the French nation, had fucceeded fo far as to pro- 
duce an open rupture ; and under the pretext of danger of an 
invaiion, which every man in the country of common fenfe and 
of common information knew to be impoflible, they procured 
an army to be placed at their difpofal — war, to draw the atten- 
tion of the people from domeftic to foreign danger — and an 
army to execute whatever mould be commanded, feemed all 
that was wanting, and thefe were abfolutely indifpenfible, in 
order to open the laft fcene of the drama, in order to exhibit 
the bloody cataftrophe. This was to men of virtue and intelli- 
gence a moment of awful expectation, of deep, of unfpeakable 
anxiety. They knew that our deftinies were proceeding rapidly 
to a crifis, that we were playing for the laft (take left to the hu- 
man race, and that the game was nearly ended. The moment 
was at hand that was to decide the queftion, whether man was 
ever to emerge from the ftate of depreiiion and vafTalage in 
which, from the beginning of time, he had been cruelly held, 
or was to be funk again, without future hope, into the dark 
abyfs. The profufion with which the public money was fquan- 
dered, and which could not be concealed from the public eye, 
the burthens that rapidly accumulated on the people, the land 
tax, and the loan of money at an unexampled intereft, to fup- 
ply that profufion ; an army, always an object of jealoufy to 
freemen, and in this inftance raifed on pretexts obvioufly infin- 
cere, and which rendered its deftination lufpiciou?, — -thefe things 
excited in the public mind diftruft and enquiry. — This was a 
happy prefage. — The enlightend patriots hoped that the {lum- 
ber of the people was nearly at an end — that they would foor» 
«wake- Thank heaven, they did awake, and the proud edi- 
fice of federalifm, that caftle of defpair, was laid fmoaking in 
the duft. 

A fingle circumftance, fellow citizens, which preceded the 
downfal of federalifm, and which was confidered at the time, 
by the intelligent men of both parties, as the harbinger of that 
event, we will recal to your recollections, principally becaufe, 
in our opinions, it demonftrates the truth of what we have ta- 
ken for granted, that the war was confidered as neceffary to the 
accomplishment of federal projects on our own government, and 
that the army was raifed, not to repel French invafion, but to 
crufh republican ifm. The French government were inviting 
ours to meet them on honorable terms for the purpofe of endea- 
voring to put an end, by treaty, to all fubfifting differences ; 
Mr. Adams called a council of thofe federalifts in whom he 
placed moft confidence," in order to determine whether the in- 
vitation mould be accepted or rejected. It is well known that 
the council were divided in opinion ; that fome, alarmed at the 
fymptoms of a gathering ftorm at home, and too timid to em- 
bark in an enterprizefo hazardous, as that of attempting to ilifie 



[ 10 ] 
and overwhelm the public voice by force, were for peace, and 
for waiting for a more aufpicious time for the accomplifhment 
of their plans ;— that others more daring were for rejecting all 
overtures from France, and boldly meeting the mock of con* 
flitting principles at home ; they knew that if ambaffadors were 
appointed peace would be the confequence, for America and 
France had no hoflile, no conflicting interefts ; that the necef- 
fary confequence of peace muft be a difTolution of the army ;— • 
in fhort, that it would be relinquifhing the ground they had 
gained. Why mould they fly on the flrfl: appearance of thofe 
whom they expected to meet and whom they were prepared to 
encounter, efpecially as henceforward it was probable that the 
itrength of that enemy would be augmenting whilfl: theirs would 
be diminifhing ? 

Revolutions are never accomplifhed without hazard. The 
boldefr. ineafures are commonly the moti fjccefsful. Why then 
mould they vait for a more favorable time which probably would 
never arrive ? To relinquifh the war with France at this juncture 
would be a cowardly defertion of their caufe at the moment 
when one vigorous exertion would probably fecure its triumph. 
Thefe were the counfels of fome of the leading federalists pref- 
ect, among whom it is faid were Hamilton and Pickering. Do 
thefe things appear incredible to you, feliovy citizens ? Perhaps 
you do not know that when the army was voted, it was the ad- 
vice of Mr. Hamilton that it mould amount to fifty thoufand 
men. Perhaps you have forgotten that an army of volunteers 
was enlifted in. every part of the Union, the officers of which 
were appointed by the executive of the United States, and was 
placed at the difpofal of the Prefident. Perhaps you have nev- 
er heard that the Secretary at war Mr. McHenry cxprefsly 
recommended it to officers of that army of volunteers to encour- 
age the inliflment of that clafs of men called old tones. And 
yet thefe things are true, and they deferve your folemn confedera- 
tion. In the council however caution prevailed j embaffadois 
were nominated, and you cannot have forgotten that moment 
Mr. Adams was execrated by almoft every leading federalift, as 
the bafe cowardly betrayer of their caufe. Yet to relieve 
the nation from the diftrefs of a" War exifting without caufe, 
and without object, was to betray federalifm. 

The period forfeiting a Prefident of the United States was 
approaching, the federalifts were difgufted with Mr. Adams, 
but dared not change their ground in the face of a formidable 
enemy, they determined therefore once more to adhere to him. 
The republican fpint became roufed and active. In the ftate of 
New-York the period for electing the members of their legifla- 
ture, which was to appoint the electors of the future Prefident* 
arrived. So nearly were the parties now balanced in the un- 
ion, that it was calculated the ftate of New- York would prob- 
ably turn the fcale ; it was alfo reduced nearly to a certainty 
that party would preponderate in the legiilature of that 
ftate which mould carry the elections in the city of New- 
York. To that city every eye was anxioufly turned. The repub- 
licans fucceeded, and from that moment the federal caufe was 
cfpaired of, though its efforts were not yet st an end. As foon as 



It was fairly determined that the republicans had gained a ma- 
jority in the legislature of New- York, the federalifts in Con- 
grefs pafled a bill for dilbanding their army, now become ufelefs. 
Here let it be remembered, fellow citizens, that the ftate of oujr 
affairs with France were at this time precifely in the Situation 
they were at the time when the army was raifed ;. for fo far was 
the controverfy from being adjufted, that our ambafTadors had 

not in fad reached the French territory But the profpectof 

employing the army intheiervice, for which it was raifed, vanifli- 
ed, and to. deprive the republicans of the credit of disbanding 
it was all that remained in the power of federalifm to perform. 

Thefe were the projects and thcfe the deeds of federalifm in 

the days of its power ; Of its meafuras in its flate of depref- 

■fion, of thofe of the republicans Since they gained the afcenden- 
■cy, we will draw a rapid Sketch j — -the uniformity of the fcene 
precludes a lengthy defcription. 

To correct the diforders in our government o'ccaGoned by fe- 
deral mifrule, was the firft labor of republicans. They redu- 
ced the army and navy to the Standard of our real wants ; they 
aboKlhed a number of vexatious, oppreffive, and unneceffary 
taxes, and by that means difbanded a ho ft of tax-gatherers, who 
were fupported at the public expence ; they introduced the 
moft rigorous economy into every department of public expend- 
iture. Though they are (till convinced that the public debt 
was funded on terms flagrantly unjuft, yet as the faith of the na- 
tion was pledged by thofe who had a right to pledge it on thofe 
.terms, and as a great proportion of the debt is now in the hands 
of men who were not parties to the injuftice, — equity, policy, 
every good principle demands a rigorous, a punctual payment of 
•the debt, on the terms on which it was funded; they have ac- 
cordingly, by refcinding every unneceflary expence, and by in- 
troducing a new degree of order and accuracy into the depart- 
ment of finance, been able to provide for the regular and rapid 
difcharge of the debt ; and there is no reafon to doubt that, with 
the adminiftraticn of our affairs in fuch hands, a few years will 
relieve the people from every pecuniary burden, excepting the 
light and neceffary one of Supporting the current expences of go- 
vernment. 

The ftate of our affairs, when we confider that many burthen- 
'fome taxes have been aboliftied, is fo far beyond what the moft 
fanguine republican hoped, and what any federalift would al- 
low to be poilible, that to the deluded of that party it may 
appear more like the' effect of magic than of fimple frugality, 
juftice and order. Abroad our national character is as much 
improved as the ftafee of our affairs at home. It is now under- 
stood by the nations of Europe that our government is deter- 
mined to Stand aloof from all their cabals and contefts, that 
while it devotes itfelf to the protection and profperity of its own 
citizens, it will withjulrice, fincerity and impartiality cultivate 
the friendship of all nations. Abroad our government is uni- 
verfally refpected for its wifdom, and efteemed for its juftice — 
This is no exaggeration. 

Where is the nation that has a complaint againft us ? Where 
the government that does not fpeak of ours with refpect ? But 



[ 12 J 

remember, fellow citizens, that every meafure that has cond'u*- 
ced to this happy and honorable ftate of things has been oppo- 
fed by the whole force of every leading federalift. They ha'd- 
predicted that debility, diforder, a proftration of public credit, 
expunging the public debt, anarchy, civil war, and a confe- 
quent defpotifm, would be the fruits of a republican fyftem 
when reduced to practice. — Their predictions they had never 
themfelves believed ; but that their fa! fehood fhould hi detected 
by the people was what they could illy brook. They forefaw 
that if the wife, juft, and economical plans of the republicans 
fhould be carried into effect, the people, feeling the benefits of 
thofe meafures, would be convinced of the folly, oppreflion, and 
profligacy of federalifm. Their oppofition was unavailing, 

their rage was unbounded, but it was harmlefs ; The work. 

of reformation proceeded with calmnefs and dignity — The peo- 
ple were made happy, and they felt and acknowledged that 
they were fo. 

The federalifls had awaked ftom their dream of glory ; their 
king and their nobility had paffed away ; but the refentment 
the rage of difappointment remained. They could no longer, 
hope to govern, but they might thwart and embarrafs their ad- 
verfaries, and this was fome confolation. War is the mod ter- 
rible fcourge with which mankind can be afflicted ; it is pecu- 
liarly to be deprecated by a republican government, as it has a 
powerful, an irrefutable tendency to demoralize the people, ta 
corrupt and undermine their principles of juflice and equality* 
and their habits of order and economy, without which a repub- 
lican government cannot exift. War then was to be defired by 
the federalifls, becaufe it might fo far deftroy the republican 
principles and habits among the people, as to give ultimate fuc- 
cefs to the hereditary fyftem ; and becaufe, at any rate, when 
the people fhould become reftlefs and difcon tented under the 
burthens and miferies of war, as they certainly .would, whatever 
might be its caufe, all thofe burthens, and a I thofe miferies* 
the people might by artifice and mifreprefentation, be induced 
to impute to the wiclcednefs, or at beft to the folly of their ru- 
lers, and of courfe once more to briag thofe who were oppofed 
to them, who were in the babit of imputing to them knavery 
and folly, into power. It is on principles like thefe that the 
federalitts have been found fupporting, under the prefent admi- 
niftration thofe meafures only that have provided for an increafe 
of our military or naval eftablifhment. 

It was from motives like thefe that, taking advantage of an 
act of injuftice of a Spanifk officer at New-Orleans, which af- 
fected in a high degree the interefts of the inhabitants of the 
countries watered by the Ohio and Miffifippi, and of the ftrong 
refentment excited by that injuftice, they united their utmoft 
exertions to hurry us into a war with France and Spain. The 
republicans, though determined at all events to have the injury 
corrected, prefered, nay the very people who were fuffering the 
injury prefered negociaticn to war, knowing that in cafe nego- 
ciation fhould fail, the evils of war would be borne with the 
more patience, as it would be known that they could not have 
been avoided. The project of negociating was treated by all 



[ 13 ] 
the federalifts as bafe, cowardly, and degrading to our nation- 
al chara&er. They faid it demonftrated the extreme pufillanf- 
mity of our chief magiftrate ; that it was a fample of what we 
were to expert from his adminiftration ; that the abfurdity of 
the plan was equal to its meannefs, for that from the very na- 
ture of things, it was demonftrable to any man of common 
undemanding that it could not poftibly fucceed. Negociation 
however was tried — its fuccefs you know. It fecures to us in- 
terefts of ineftimable value, it removes far from us the moft pro- 
bable fource of future wars ; and it opens a profpert of future 
wealth and power almoft exceeding calculation ;— And yet this 
treaty, whcfe benefits are above all price, is, and will continue 
to be decried, and calumniated by a faction, who have loft the 
hope, who have almoft loll the wifn, of accompliming any 
thing beyond mere gratuitous mifchief. 

This fingle tranfacYion, fellow citizens, forces on the mind 
conviction relative to the views of federaiifts more clearly, 
more irrefiftibly, than could be done by volumes of argument. 
That they ftrove to plunge the country into a war, of which no 
man could ferioufly pretend to foretel the duration or the re- 
fult, is cenain ; that their motive was not what they pretend; M, 
a regard to the interefts of the weftern people, is alfo Certain, 
for thofe people were willing and defirous to wait the refult of 
negociation ; and befides it is a fart well known, that our 
northern federalifts univerfally hold thefe people in deteftation— 
for the truth of this affertion we appeal to you, fellow citizens. 
What then was their motive ? It was no other, it could 
be no other, than the gratification of perfonal ambition, or party 
hatred. To thefe objects then, the men to whom you have 
confided your higheft interefts, your property, your peace, your 

liberties, have attempted to facrifice diofe high interefts 

Thefe are the men who demand a continuation of your confi- 
dence ! ! ! Thefe are the men who declare, that oppofition 

to them is hoftility to order, to morals, to religion, in Ihort, is 
rank Jacobinifm ! ! 

Of the morals of men who have tafely betrayed the truft 
that has been repofed in them, by attempting to ereft a mon- 
archal, ariftocratic tyranny on the ruins . of liberty, and being 
defeated in that flagicious attempt, have ftrove to bring war and 
ruin on their country for the gratification of the moft malignant. 
the worft of paflions, we will fay nothing ; but to their reli- 
gion ! yes to the religion of federalifm, as it has been a word ot 
magic potency, we will pay one moment's attention. 

Until the accelfion of Mr. Adams to the Prefidency, it will 
be remembered, that the infidelity of republicans, or thepeculiar 
piety of federalifts,. had never been heard of; in truth, as it re- 
fpecls the proportionate numbers of men who avowed, or enter- 
tained a fpeculative difbelief in revelation, the parties ftood On 
nearly equal ground ; there is, we apprehend, no reafon, at 
any rate, to believe that the number was proportionally greater 
on the republican fide than on the federal ; nor can it be pre- 
tended that republican cbriftians are lefs pious, or lefs fincere, 
than federal pbriftians ; indeed this never was the ground of the 
diftinctiom 



£ l* 3 

The influence of the clergy, wherever there is a clergy, 
over the minds of the people, mull from the nature of their 
profeflion be very great. All the governments of Europe have 
found it neceffary to purchafe this influence en mafse, or rather 
to incorporate it with the other powers of the government, and 
to admit the clergy to a (hare, proportioned to their influence, 
in the common plunder. In England, whofe government is 
the great prototype of American federalifm, the {hare of the 
clergy is one tenth part of the annual produce of the whole- 
kingdom, befides the dignity and privileges of nobility to a num- 
ber of the clerical chiefs called Archbifhops and Sifhops, with 
many other dignified grades of priefthood. 

When the federalifts were fearching about them on every 
fide for aids and auxiliaries in their great project of eftablifh- 
ing monarchy, it would have been marvelous if they overlook- 
ed or neglected an ally fo obvious and fo powerful as the priefl- 
hood, efpecially as it was Co prominent a part of the Bricifh ed- 
ifice which they were copying. They were not guilty of this: 
overfight. We do not fay, for we do not know that any ne- 
gociation was ever entered into on this fubject, a perfect under- 
ftanding might be obtained without it, it is probable therefore,, 
that in form it never took place j but the clergy undetftood 
that the federal fyftem was the Britifh fyftem, and that the an-- 
alogy was intended to extend to the clergy was foon put beyond 
a doubt. Mr. Adams in his inaugural fpeech announced his 
intention of giving countenance to men -of religion. This was 
the firft open promulgation of a governmental, a federal reli- 
gion. Henceforward religion became the fhiboleth of the 
party. 

If we were difpofedto excite your laughter, felIow-citizens v 
we have only to name to you men living amongft you, men 
known to you all, who became fuddenly like the prieftefs of 
Delphos, filled with the Divinity, to raving, religion ! ! Yes 
this is the religion of which republicans are deflitute. Enter- 
taining no projects of oppreflion againfl: their fellow citizens? 
but aiming by the fimpleft plained means to accomplish their 
greateft good, they have no need to offer bribes to a priefthood. 
They are friends to true religion, to real piety, to every prin- 
ciple that has a tendency to increafe the virtue and happinefs 
of men. It is only when prieils defert the duties of their 
profeflion and become the inftruments of faction that they meet 
the reproaches of republicans. 

The federalifts driven from the government of the United 
States have hitherto found means to maintain a preponderance in 
feveral of the ftate governments where they (till wage a fpiteful 
war againfl: republicanifm and. its friends. Let us come home 
.to our own State of Connecticut. Will it be denied that at 
this moment the government of Connecticut is fet in hoftile 
■array againfl: the exifling government of the nation ? againfl: 
that immenfe majority of men and of flates who love and cher- 
ilh the prefent adminiftration and the principles on -which they 
act ? No, this cannot be denied, for it is a fact of which no 
man is ignorant. It is true that no man who avows his 
approbation of the mes lures of the prefent adminiftration re- 



[,, is ] 

ceives the countenance of our ftate government. It is true that 
republicans are fuperceded in office merely becaufe they are 
republicans. It is true that federalists forego no means in their 
power to keep alive the unreafonable hatreds and jealoufies 
which they have excited againft the general government and its 
friends ; and yet thefe men talk of reconciliation. What do 
they mean by reconciliation ? Will they unite in fupporting re- 
publican meafures, will they renounce their error and do 
juftice to thofe men and thofe meafures that have faved our 
country from ruin and placed it in a (late of profperity never 
before known upon earth ? Let them do this, and republicans 
will be reconciled to them. 

Republicanifrn and federalifm can never unite, can never be 
reconciled, they are liberty and flarery, they are terms of ef- 
fential oppofition. It has been obferved of late, that fome of 
the ruling party in Connecticut have affumed a language like 
this. — We allow that the meafures of the general government 
are wife, that our affairs are conducted better than our fears pre- 
dicted, What then ? Our ftate government is a totally different 
thing from the general government — Why dc you wifh to make 
a change among the officers of the ftate government ? Our 
anfwer is, becaufe many officers of our ftate government are 
federalifts, or are ignorantly acting the part of federalifts — 
that is, they are enemies of liberty and of the friends of liber- 
ty ; they are enemies of the general government and of the 
principles on which it is conducted ; they keep the ftate in a 
pofture of hoftility to the federal government, and fo long as 
they have power to prevent it they will never permit a cordial 
co-operation of the ftate with the general government. 

The queftion is not, fellow citizens, whether Jonathan Trum- 
bull, or Ephraim Kirdy, or any other man, mall be governor 
of the ftate of Connecticut, but whether the ftate of Cennecti- 
cut fliall be cordially reftored to the bofom of that family of 
which fhe was once an honorable, a highly efteemed member, 
or the prefent alienations be encouraged and encrealed until 
they (hall arrive to the ftate of open rupture. The prefent ftate 
of things cannot long exift, it cannot be ftationary, and the 
bickerings between the government of this ftate and of the 
United States muft end in reconciliation, or they mud end in 
war. What then is the object of thofe federalifts who direct the 
operations of the party, and who are refponfible for all the con- 
sequences of their enterprizes ? Do they expeit to break there* 
publican ftates down to their meafures ? No, their folly cannot 
foar fo high. Do they contemplate a duTblution cf the union ? 
Dare they look on the confequences of an event like that ? If 
they have ever turned their eyes that way, let them tremble. 
No, fellow citizens, this is furely an idle fear. We know that 
you may be, many of you have been deceived with regard to 
the views and meafures of the two great political parties ; how 
long this delufion will continue we know not ; but we know 
that you are in general republicans, attached, as ardently as any 
men on earth, to a free and frugal government ; you cannot 
therefore be induced to throw away your liberties, to plunge a 
dagger into your own vitals. 



£ 16 ] 

A thoufand abfurdities have been uttered relative to the plans 
of the republicans in cafe they fhall obtain a majority in the le- 
giflature of this ftate. Almoft all the views of republicans, fo 
far as we know them, we have already explained. Republi- 
cans have no projects hoftile to religion, its minifters, or its or- 
dinances ; in this refpedt they hold it to be effentially, and un- 
der all circumftances wrong and tyrannical for a government to 
interpofe any further than may be neceiTary to prevent the viola- 
tion of the peace of fociety. They would reftore elections to that 
freedom from perfonal and pecuniary influence which they for- 
wcrly enjoyed. To the militia, to all thofe men who are thought 
worthy to be intruded with the defence of liberty, they would 
extend the right of fufFrage, that rnoif important right of free- 
men. They would divide the ftate into diftri&s for the election 
of councillors and of members of Congrefs- Thefe are the No- 
vations, iffuch they may be called, which republicans have at 
heart. 

It is net peculiarly our own caufe, fellow citizens, that we 
are pleading, but your own caufe, the caufe of our common 
country, the caufe of the whole human race, for the whole 
human race are interefted in the refult of the experiment now 
on trial here. We afk of you no implicit faith ; but we re- 
queft, we befeech you to lay afide prejudice, to examine im- 
partially, and with a fincere defire to difcover the truth, what- 
ever may be urged in favor of the projects of either party. Sure- 
ly we ought to be heard, when we requeft only that you will 
with coolnefs and firmaefs purfue your own higheft happinefs— 
and as liberty has now, on this globe, no abode but with us, 
that you will not madly combine with her enemies, to drive her 
from the face of the earth. 

Signed fay order of the General Committee, 

LEVI IVES, Jun. Oeri. 

[Aug. 30. 1803 ] 



Republican Nomination for Council. 



EPHRA1M KIRBY, 
WILLIAM HART, 
THOMAS SEYMOUR, 
JONATHAN BULL, 
EBENEZER BARNARD. 
RUFUS HITCHCOCK, 
ELIJAH MUNSON, 
ASA SPALDING, 
LATHAM HULL, 
FLISHA HYDE, 



JABEZ FITCH, 
WALTER BRADLEY, 
JABEZ H TOML1NSON, 
EBENEZER DEVOTION, 
DANIEL lTLOEN, 
JOHN WELCH, 
ELIJAH BOARDMAN, 

ISAAC SPENCER, ad. 
JOHN T PETERS, 

SAMUEL WHIiTELSEY 



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